So, you remove all the black out of the lens and then restencil the lettering, or do you just remove the lower portion and stencil the 'IMSA'? Have you put up a specific thread about this? How hard would it be to do only 3 letters below the PONTIAC with the split in the tailight? That is awsome, by the way! Vince
With the original delaminated lenses, the black portion that actually delaminates can be removed VERY CAREFULLY. Basically, I took a dremel tool with cut off wheel and scored the entire area around the original "Pontiac". Then I carefully pried upwards on the black with a micro screwdriver. If you pry too hard, you will go right through the lens. By applying a gradual pressure, you can actually hear the black portion cracking away from the clear of the lens. It then simply comes off in pieces. I then created a new reverse mask with my vinyl machine and sprayed the rear of the lens with black. Remove the masking and you have new letters. Then I masked the front of the lenses and sprayed the lenses in urethane paint and clear.
so in order to paint these lights im assertaining that this is the prossess correct me if im wrong.
step 1 dissassebly taking lens off of lights step 2 wet sanding the whole lens with 2000 grit to make them smooth step 3 taping off the light lens part and the PONTIAC step 4 painting the rest black with a mat finish paint step 5 wet sand agian with 2000 grit step 6 pull off the tape from the light lens and PONTIAC and clear coat with urathane x 5
The calgary fieros site specifies NOT to use clear cause it will eat through the plexiglass, opinions? Has the op had any issues with his so far? I was thinking of doing this sometime soon as my delamination worsened when a friend pushed on them when pushing my car...
Also, I have several finger nail depth scratches in my left lens thanks to some jack@$$ who decided to either lean or slide on my car with some studded jeans or hard object.. Will I be able to get them out?
The calgary fieros site specifies NOT to use clear cause it will eat through the plexiglass, opinions? Has the op had any issues with his so far? I was thinking of doing this sometime soon as my delamination worsened when a friend pushed on them when pushing my car...
Also, I have several finger nail depth scratches in my left lens thanks to some jack@$$ who decided to either lean or slide on my car with some studded jeans or hard object.. Will I be able to get them out?
Thanks.
The only way it will eat through the lenses is with a lacquer or acetone based paint. Urethane has very little harsh chemicals that will damage the lenses. The set on my car has been cleared for over a year. They still look like glass.
[This message has been edited by IMSA GT (edited 09-04-2010).]
I ended up buying the painted lenses from the original post, along with the rest of the taillights, quite some time ago. They're actually sitting in the hallway resting on my Mr. Mike's seats waiting for my car to get back from bmwguru.
I have a couple pics I took when I received them, but the lighting was horrible, they look much better in person. The second pic shows how much clearer the transparent section is than my original '88 taillights, at least. The painted section in person looks MUCH better than my original delam'd taillights, these still look like IMSA GT's good quality pics from the original post.
Thanks for the help gentlemen. Can anyone recommend products suitable for this project that would come on a spray can? I'm pretty much clueless when it comes to painting, and sadly passed up an awesome deal on a professional airbrush setup that would have probably come in handy for this project. I appreciate the help!
Thanks for the help gentlemen. Can anyone recommend products suitable for this project that would come on a spray can? I'm pretty much clueless when it comes to painting, and sadly passed up an awesome deal on a professional airbrush setup that would have probably come in handy for this project. I appreciate the help!
As soon as you say "spray can", it means chemicals. This is the ONLY spray can type I will ever recommend. It is made by Spraymax, you actually press a button on the bottom of the can and it mixes the hardner inside the can. You then shake it up and because it is now catalyzed, you have a limited time to spray the part. If you goof up and have to re-spray later on, the can will already have hardned paint inside. You will have to buy another can to finish. http://www.repaintsupply.co..._part_2k_aerosol.cfm
I tinted my corvette lenses with this http://www.flyeyeskit.co.uk/index.php Worked great applied it to four lights in 20 minutes and it looked awesome. I was thinking of putting it on the inside of the lenses to darken the clear area and give it the Pontiac hex pattern.......oh yea the kit is a tight hex mesh btw
As soon as you say "spray can", it means chemicals. This is the ONLY spray can type I will ever recommend. It is made by Spraymax, you actually press a button on the bottom of the can and it mixes the hardner inside the can. You then shake it up and because it is now catalyzed, you have a limited time to spray the part. If you goof up and have to re-spray later on, the can will already have hardned paint inside. You will have to buy another can to finish. http://www.repaintsupply.co..._part_2k_aerosol.cfm
Would the type of black paint used matter at all, as long as you sand it before spraying the urethane?
As soon as you say "spray can", it means chemicals. This is the ONLY spray can type I will ever recommend. It is made by Spraymax, you actually press a button on the bottom of the can and it mixes the hardner inside the can. You then shake it up and because it is now catalyzed, you have a limited time to spray the part. If you goof up and have to re-spray later on, the can will already have hardned paint inside. You will have to buy another can to finish. http://www.repaintsupply.co..._part_2k_aerosol.cfm
Oops the guy above posted the same question I had. Sorry
[This message has been edited by The ROK (edited 03-25-2011).]
Originally posted by 8-P: Would the type of black paint used matter at all, as long as you sand it before spraying the urethane?
quote
Originally posted by The ROK:
Oops the guy above posted the same question I had. Sorry
The basecoat does not matter as long as it is completely dry. For example, if you try to spray a urethane clear over a lacquer basecoat that is still curing, the lacquer will cause the clear to bubble.
That is amazing result and I have seen it before several times on here. The lights looks basically better than new. My question is has anyone done a very good tutorial pictorial of this kind of thing on a set of Notchie taillights? I am trying to get some better ones as mine have cracks and I want to do them up right for my car. I have seen a couple interesting pics and videos of Notchie taillights done with sequential lights which was very cool and also someone put the pontiac lettering into the notchie lights. I want to do something like this myself for my project car but I was hoping someone had blazed the trail already. Is there such a thread or a link to some good pics and description? peace
That is amazing result and I have seen it before several times on here. The lights looks basically better than new. My question is has anyone done a very good tutorial pictorial of this kind of thing on a set of Notchie taillights? I am trying to get some better ones as mine have cracks and I want to do them up right for my car. I have seen a couple interesting pics and videos of Notchie taillights done with sequential lights which was very cool and also someone put the pontiac lettering into the notchie lights. I want to do something like this myself for my project car but I was hoping someone had blazed the trail already. Is there such a thread or a link to some good pics and description? peace
Pete
Basically with the notchie lenses, the only concern would be painting the outer edge black. That way the light is contained within the lens and not shining up at the sky or at the ground. The entire lens can be clearcoated. The inner part of the lenses can be masked with lettering and sprayed and LED's added. Also, the lenses can be tweaked or replaced with standard reflector red material to eliminate the "grid" that the lenses have.
I could not find any 1/8", but I found and used 1/4" at my local body/paint shop. It was pricy at $9, but I don't see any way to tape up the PONTIAC letters. It requires some practice to use and the light underneath is a necessity. (I used my PSP paused with a bright screen under the covers.) You have to apply pressure with one finger in the curves and pull pretty hard with the other hand and slowly inching the other finger around the curve.
I also recommend doing the inside curves first.
Tomorrow paint goes on mine. Good luck with yours.
I'm also in the process of refinishing my GT tail lights. I discovered that O'Reilly sells 3M brand Scotch Blue Fine Line tape in various widths including 1/8". About $12.50/roll, but it has 36 yards so I shouldn't run out any time soon. I'm also going to use IMSA GT's recommendation of SprayMax Urethane 2k. Reasonable price and good reviews. I don't have any spray equipment so I need something in a spray can. Regarding the black that is sprayed prior to the urethane ... I was at Hobby Lobby with my wife and they have black enamel in small 3 oz cans for model cars. I would think that this paint is meant to go on thin compared to rattle cans like RustOleum and Krylon. Using a large can would probably dump a lot of paint. Using the small 3 oz model enamel might be what I need. Anyone have any feedback regarding durability of the model paint? If it's sprayed over with the urethane would that provide enough protection for outdoor exposure? The car will probably be covered or kept inside so it will not receive constant sunlight.
Driver's side taped up and bondo work around the rounded edge where the trunk lock rests:
Final results. My phone's basic 1.3 megapixel camera can't pick up all the defects in the black paint around the P, the O and under the I and neither can most other people just glancing it over or behind me in traffic. The good news is that the paint is all on the outside so I can redo this project when I have the time again and get it perfect!
I gave this a shot and the paint bubbles like crazy, I let it cure anyway and then wet sanded it down and then sprayed clear on it and it bubbled all over again. Now, the clear lenses are just wonderful but when the paint hits the rest of it --here come the bubbles.
I don't know what clear coat you use, but I've had excellent results using clear Tremclad in the spray can for refinishing clouded lenses. Usually , it will remove most light scratches or fogging, so no sanding is necessary. Just a real good cleaning. If you spray in a dust free environment, or rub it out afterwards, you get a very good high gloss finish...as good or better as the factory paint. Better than repolishing the original plastic surface.
Going to attempt this soon. I have one lens that has a little cracking in it. Looking for a replacment, but I will fix it up anyways as a backup. Any recommendations on what to use to glue/seal up a crack so water does not get in again?
Going to attempt this soon. I have one lens that has a little cracking in it. Looking for a replacment, but I will fix it up anyways as a backup. Any recommendations on what to use to glue/seal up a crack so water does not get in again?
You can repair the cracks using the right adhesive. The syringe allows the adhesive to get sucked into the crack and fill it. When the adhesive dries, it is clear. I posted this in your other thread but I'll post it here also. Watch the video from about the 3:00 mark. Even though you are not gluing 2 pieces together, they are still touching at the crack so this will fiil in the crack:
[This message has been edited by IMSA GT (edited 08-10-2013).]
One final question. If I am going to apply SpraxMax (my clear of choice, since I dont have any REAL paint equipment) and I want to clear the ENTIRE lens, should I be lightly sanding the part I previously masked off when putting down the black?
Wetsand the entire lens with 1500 grit.....even the clear portion. The clear part of the lens will look dull but the Spraymax will fill in the micro scratches and make the lens clear again. Also very important....when you dry the lens after wetsanding, make sure there are no streaks in the black portion from wiping. These will show through the clearcoat and you don't want that to happen.
Wetsand the entire lens with 1500 grit.....even the clear portion. The clear part of the lens will look dull but the Spraymax will fill in the micro scratches and make the lens clear again. Also very important....when you dry the lens after wetsanding, make sure there are no streaks in the black portion from wiping. These will show through the clearcoat and you don't want that to happen.
Thank you sir. After wet sanding what do you recommend, hitting it with a papertowel to dry and then a tack cloth to pick up any fibers?
When you mean buff are you using a polishing buffer with a plastic polish or ....?
Because the entire lens is clearcoated with automotive urethane, I use 3M Finesse-It and a power buffer. You aren't touching any "plastic" because the lens is clearcoated so you are actually buffing paint just like a new paintjob.
I wasn't very clear on my question. After wet sanding (2500) the lenses have fine scratches. At this point what would be used to buff or remove the scratches?
[This message has been edited by LornesGT (edited 10-25-2013).]
I was very clear on my question. After wet sanding (2500) the lenses have fine scratches. At this point what would be used to buff or remove the scratches?
